"It's possible because there's a desire by people for him to be Bond — not that he wants it, but we want it."

Having already become a leading U.K. director for films like Kill List and A Field in England, Ben Wheatley had the great luck to debut his latest film, High-Rise, in the media glare of his lead star Tom Hiddleston being talked about as the next James Bond.

"I think it could easily happen," Wheatley told The Hollywood Reporter about Hiddleston becoming 007, the subject of rumors the Marvel star downplayed as they appeared around the time of the U.K. release of High-Rise last month.

"Apart from being a really good actor, he's someone that the people can't help but like, and they love. So even if it (Bond role) doesn't happen, I can see his career stretching on and on and on," he added about Hiddleston.

High-Rise, Wheatley's adaption of J.G. Ballard's 1975 dystopian thriller, features Hiddleston playing a respectable doctor who lives in a luxurious, yet isolated tall building in London beset by a class divide and threatening violence.

Hiddleston starring as Loki in Marvel’s Thor, The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World, while also performing in indie film and TV projects back in the U.K., has his fans conditioned to welcome a host of roles from the global star, Wheatley said.

Whether Hiddleston plays James Bond, the U.K. director sees him following in the steps of earlier U.K. greats like David Niven, Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton. "The top ones are always stealing off to L.A. to be in big movies, being a top star in Hollywood and maintaining a career in the U.K., and bouncing back and forth," he said.

The U.K. release of High-Rise also coincided with Hiddleston's lead role in The Night Manager, the six-part adaptation of John Le Carre's spy thriller airing on the BBC and on AMC in the U.S. High-Rise is set for a U.S. release on May 13, to be followed a week later with the Canadian release by Soda Pictures.